You Don't Mess Around With Jane

Jane Austen’s First Law of Blogging

"I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Blog under any other motive than to save my life; and if it were indispensable for me to keep it up and never relax into laughing at myself or at other people, I am sure I should be hung before I had finished the first post."

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Emma

Alert Janeite Cinthia posted in comments that Emma 2009 will be broadcast on Masterpiece Classics in three parts, beginning January 24 through February 7, 2010, thus pointing out the inherent problems in the “year” adaptation classification system *shakes fist at Masterpiece and its laggy timing*. The trailer, as has already been pointed out in comments, is better than the British teaser.

As for the casting of badboy Jonny Lee Miller as the wise, older Mr Knightley, where is the divinely brooding and grown-up Richard Armitage when you need him? Answer me that.

See? Though now we are of the opinion that the divinely brooding &c. Mr. A. would have been wasted in this particular production, it not being the definitively faithful version we had hoped for, but Austen filtered through Oprah. UK viewers, use this as your report-on-the-fourth-episode thread. We’ll post some other stuff about other things later tonight.

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Alert Janeite Cinthia wrote to tell us that the BBC has posted its upcoming television schedule, which includes air dates for the first two (of four) episodes of Emma 09. The first episode will be broadcast on Sunday, October 4, from 9-10 p.m. The second episode will be broadcast at the same time the following Sunday, so we can probably assume the other two episodes will follow the same pattern.

Cinthia also found a not very informative press pack on the BBC site. (Though as Alert Janeite Sylvia pointed out, we will get to see Mrs. Dixon and Mrs. Churchill!)

Sylvia also let us know that the site Shootastic has high-res promo photos from the production, but you have to register to see them. (We have not registered, but if you would like to see them, go for it!)

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Somebody’s making bank! Remember that auction of the three-volume first edition of Emma inscribed to Jane Austen’s friend, Anne Sharp? Well, if you were kicking yourself for not going for that last bid, Alert Janeite Sion let us know that the buyer’s reselling it at a healthy markup–nearly 100 percent! £325,000; about US$530,000. Remember what they say on Antiques Roadshow: something’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It’s too bad it couldn’t have been purchased by a real Janeite who wanted to display it to the world but buy a greedy-guts Veruca Salt-like Austen carpetbagger. Alert Janeite Sarah noticed the book was featured on ABE’s “Bookshelves of the Rich and Famous.”